Samuel Deduno

The Orioles have released right-hander Sam Deduno, reports FanGraphs’ Brad Johnson, who adds that the 33-year-old is now healthy after rehabbing from a hip injury (Twitter links). Deduno, whom the Orioles signed to a minor league deal in February, hasn’t gotten past Rookie ball this year because of his hip ailment. That issue limited Deduno to just 22 combined innings with the Astros and their Triple-A affiliate in 2015. Prior to posting a 6.86 ERA in 21 major league frames last season, Deduno combined for 287 2/3 innings between the Twins and Astros from 2012-14. In that time, he logged a 4.22 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and an excellent 57.2 percent ground-ball rate.

The Braves have signed free agent left-hander Brian Moran to a minor league contract, per a team announcement. Moran’s entire pitching resume with major league organizations has come as a member of the Mariners, though the Blue Jays selected the reliever in the fifth round of the 2013 Rule 5 draft and then traded him to the Angels for an international bonus slot. However, the Halos returned Moran to the Mariners a few months later after learning that he needed Tommy John surgery. Moran missed all of 2014 while recovering from the procedure, but he returned last year to log a total of 33 1/3 minor league innings with the Mariners. Most of those innings (30 1/3) came at the Double-A level, where Moran recorded a 3.56 ERA, 8.6 K/9 and 5.04 BB/9. The 27-year-old (and the brother of Astros third baseman Colin Moran) has pitched this season with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League.

The Angels have announced the release of shortstop Ryan Jackson, who has divided his season between their Triple-A affiliate and Philadelphia’s. Jackson, a Cardinals fifth-round pick in 2009, debuted briefly in the majors with St. Louis in 2012 and reentered the big leagues last year with the Angels. The 28-year-old garnered just 39 combined plate appearances in those two call-ups, however. In 1,809 Triple-A PAs, Jackson has hit .274/.352/.356.

Deduno, 32, has the lengthier Major League track record of the pair, though a significant hip injury shortened his 2015 season to just 21 innings with the Astros. Deduno opened the 2015 season in long relief with the Astros and eventually made a pair of starts, one of which went well (four innings, three hits, one run, two walks, four strikeouts) and the other of which was disastrous (4 2/3 innings, 11 hits, 10 runs, three walks four strikeouts). Deduno’s ERA never got the chance to recover from that brutal outing, as he made just two more relief appearances before landing on the disabled list and ultimately undergoing season-ending hip surgery.

Prior to last season’s 6.86 ERA, Deduno enjoyed a solid, albeit erratic three-year stretch with the Twins and Astros, pitching a combined 287 2/3 innings between the two clubs from 2012-14. In that time, the Dominican righty logged a 4.22 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and a very strong 57.2 percent ground-ball rate. Control has long been an issue for Deduno, but he managed to miss just enough bats and induce enough grounders to get around that flaw and serve as a useful swingman for three seasons before his hip woes kicked in, and the O’s will hope for a return to form. He can serve as rotation and bullpen depth, though Baltimore doesn’t have a rotation spot for him at present and has multiple long relief options on the 40-man roster, so perhaps Deduno is Triple-A bound to open the season.

Adcock, 28, tossed 18 innings out of the Reds bullpen last season and struggled to a 6.00 ERA. He posted solid numbers out of the Kansas City bullpen in 2011-12 but hasn’t seen much big league time since his Royals days. Overall, Adcock has a 4.17 ERA with 5.9 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and a 52.1 percent ground-ball rate in 123 Major League innings. He has a vastly higher 5.57 ERA in Triple-A, though most of those struggles came out of the rotation. He’s posted a 2.95 ERA over the past two seasons in Triple-A, albeit in a small sample of 45 2/3 innings.

There’s plenty of trade speculation in the air at the GM Meetings, though we probably won’t see a significant uptick in major moves just yet. There are still some notable transactions happening around the league, however. Here’s today’s rundown of minor moves…

The Astros announced (on Twitter) that they’ve outrighted Sam Deduno off the 40-man roster. The right-hander can opt for free agency based on his service time, which seems to be the likeliest outcome. The 32-year-old Deduno struggled to a 6.86 ERA in 21 innings this year in a season that was cut short by a back strain. Deduno logged a more respectable 4.26 ERA in 279 innings across parts of three seasons with the Twins from 2012-14, though control has never been his strong suit.

Infielder Ryan Jackson was outrighted by the Angels yesterday and elected free agency as well, as MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweeted. The 27-year-old has limited experience in the Majors, with just two hits in 39 plate appearances between the Cardinals and Halos. However, Jackson has had better success at the Triple-A level and can play shortstop, second base and third base, so he’ll probably latch on with a club in need of infield depth.

The Astros have claimed pitcher Sam Deduno from the Twins, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger reports (Twitterlinks). The Twins had placed Deduno on non-revocable waivers, so his contract now belongs to the Astros.

Deduno is already 31 and has gotten middling results this season in Minnesota, with a 4.60 ERA, 7.2 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 92 innings split between the rotation and the bullpen. He also doesn’t throw particularly hard, with an average fastball velocity of just 89.7 MPH this season (though the pitch does get plenty of movement). He will not be eligible for arbitration until after next season, however, and his near-league-minimum salary and ability to start will give the Astros flexibility. He also gets plenty of ground balls, with a very high career rate of 57%.

In the short term, Deduno hasn’t pitched more than three innings in an outing since late July, so he might not be able to start right away, if that’s even what the Astros ultimately want. He has also gotten much better results as a reliever than as a starter this season, so he might fit better in a bullpen role.

Deduno briefly pitched for the Rockies and Padres before signing with Minnesota after the 2011 season, where he soaked up starts in some tough years for the Twins rotation. In parts of five seasons in the big leagues, he has a 4.24 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9.

While there haven't been any extension talks (and won't be) between the Royals and James Shields, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports writes that it's not completely out of the question for Shields to re-sign their ace this coming offseason. However, in order to do so, the team will need to make the postseason, he adds. Royals executives have said that they might take a loss this year due to the team's record payroll, but they also believe that a postseason run could push them into the black, according to Heyman. That type of turnaround could keep them in the bidding to retain Shields, who will hit free agency entering his age-33 season.

Here's more on baseball's Central divisions…

Close to 25 scouts were on-hand to watch Jeff Samardzija's start against the Mariners yesterday, writes Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com. According to Levine, the Blue Jays had three scouts present to watch the Cubs' Opening Day starter, including director of pro scouting and former Cubs GM Ed Lynch.

Pirates GM Neal Huntington tells Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he is not interested in making a trade for a backup catcher despite the injury to Chris Stewart (Twitter link). That suggests that Tony Sanchez will open the season as Pittsburgh's secondary backstop.

SB Nation's Grant Brisbee examines the ups and downs of Joe Mauer's contract and wonders what Mauer would have signed for had he been a free agent this offseason. Mauer is owed $115MM over the remainder of his contract, and while Brisbee feels he'd fall a bit shy of that, he still predicts a healthy six-year, $101MM contract. Mauer would have been the second-best hitter in this year's free agent class, Brisbee notes, pointing out that among 2013-14 free agents, only Robinson Cano has a higher OPS+ than Mauer over the past two seasons. More Twins-related news and rumors…

There isn't any change in negotiations between the Twins and Matt Garza, according to 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson (Twitterlinks). As Wolfson reported earlier this week, Minnesota is willing to meet Garza's price but only on a short-term deal, while Garza is looking for a longer commitment.

The Twins face an interesting battle for the fifth spot in their rotation, wrote MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger in his most recent Twins Inbox. Samuel Deduno, Vance Worley and Scott Diamond are all out of minor league options, but the rotation figures to have room for just one of the three with Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes, Kevin Correia and Mike Pelfrey all under control. That's to say nothing of top prospect Kyle Gibson, who struggled in 2013 but still projects to be in the rotation at some point. Bollinger feels that Deduno is the front-runner for the fifth spot but doesn't see a Worley or Diamond trade happening until at least midway through Spring Training, as each pitcher's value is at a low point.

The Mets announced that they agreed to sign left-hander Scott Rice to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to MLB Spring Training. Rice, 31, has a 4.08 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 14 minor league seasons.

The Cardinals agreed to a minor league contract with first baseman/right fielder Jamie Romak, MLBTR has learned. The Cardinals acquired the 27-year-old from the Royals midway through the 2012 season. In 442 total plate appearances in the upper minors, Romak posted a .260/.336/.406 batting line and hit 10 home runs and 21 doubles this past season.

The Blue Jays signed infielder Jim Negrych to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to Spring Training, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports (on Twitter).

Deduno, 29, started 15 games for the Twins this past season, posting a 4.44 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 6.0 BB/9 in 79 innings. The right-hander also has some MLB experience with the Rockies and Padres. Vasquez, 28, started six games for the Twins in 2012, posting a 5.68 ERA with 4.0 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 in 31 2/3 innings. The Twins claimed him off of waivers from Arizona in September of 2011.

The Rockies have signed infielder Brandon Wood, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. Wood will make $100K over the league minimum if he makes the big league roster, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (via Twitter). Wood, of course, was once a blue-chip prospect with the Angels.

The Padres released second baseman Alberto Gonzalez. San Diego appears to be clearing 40-man roster space in anticipation of next month's Rule 5 draft.

Right-hander Taylor Buchholz elected free agency. The Mets removed Buchholz from their 40-man roster earlier in the week. He would have earned roughly $1.2MM in 2012 had the Mets retained him through arbitration. Earlier in the week GM Sandy Alderson was unsure if anxiety and depression would prevent Buchholz from pitching in 2012.

The Padres designated Samuel Deduno for assignment to create 40-man roster space for Blake Tekotte, the team announced. To create 25-man roster space, the team optioned Will Venable to Triple-A Tucson.

Deduno earned a spot on the Padres' Opening Day roster and made two relief appearances before getting optioned to the minors on April 10th. The 27-year-old right-hander has a 2.92 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 6.6 BB/9 through 24 2/3 innings of relief work in Triple-A this year. The Padres claimed Deduno from the Rockies last offseason.

Tekotte, who turns 24 tomorrow, has a .291/.410/.486 line in 180 plate appearances at Double-A this year. He is the second player from the Padres' 2008 draft to make the Major Leagues (Logan Forsythe was the first).